


Nightswimming

by arulal



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, No Manga Spoilers, One Shot, Pre-Timeskip, going to the ocean at 2am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29000100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arulal/pseuds/arulal
Summary: Keiji would never admit it out loud, but the fact that he was the first person Bokuto thought of when coming up with crazy 2am ideas gave him butterflies.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	Nightswimming

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2017 and never posted it so it's not up to date with the manga but I think it holds up anyway.
> 
> Inspired by the song Nightswimming by R.E.M.

Keiji awoke to the sound of his phone vibrating. He groaned and rolled over, ignoring it. 

No sooner had the buzzing stopped, it started again. He groped around in the dark until he found it and checked the number, blinding himself in the process. 

“Why?” he grunted into the handset. 

“Akaashii I'm outside, come and meet me!” chirped the far too awake sounding voice of Bokuto. 

“Why?” asked Keiji again, who just wanted to go back to sleep. 

“It's a surprise!” Bokuto said, and hung up before Keiji could protest. 

Keiji buried his face into his pillow and groaned. He'd never hear the end of it tomorrow if he just ignored Bokuto so he reluctantly got up and pulled on a hoodie before making his way downstairs. Luckily his parents were heavy sleepers so he didn't have to worry about getting caught. 

He stepped into the warm summer night to see Bokuto leaning against his car, his broad back covered only by one of his weird t-shirts. Keiji took a moment to study Bokuto before he turned around and noticed Keiji, a grin breaking across his face. 

“You're here!” he exclaimed. 

As much as he hated being woken up at 2am, and he had been ready to give Bokuto an earful, Keiji found it hard to stay annoyed at Bokuto when greeted with Bokuto’s genuine enthusiasm to see him. 

“Why are you surprised, this is my house after all,” said Keiji. 

Bokuto's smile grew wider, he knew Keiji well enough to know that this meant that Keiji was willing to go along with whatever plans he had made for tonight. 

“C’mon let's go! You're gonna love this, Akaaashi, I just suddenly got the idea and I had to find you right away!” he babbled as he chivvied Keiji towards the passenger side of the car. 

Keiji hid a smile as he slid into the car, he would never admit it out loud but the fact that he was the first person Bokuto thought of when coming up with crazy 2am ideas gave him butterflies. 

“Where are we going then?” he asked as Bokuto pulled away. 

“It's a secret!” Bokuto reiterated. “But you'll find out soon and be amazed by what a great idea it is! Ah! Check the backseat.” Bokuto reached an arm around, trying to grab something from behind them. 

“Please keep your eyes on the road, Bokuto-san.” said Keiji, more calmly than he felt. 

Bokuto squawked and put both hands back on the wheel. 

They spent most of the drive in companionable silence, a rare occurrence with Bokuto, which made the rude awakening worth it for Keiji. He was content to watch Bokuto drive. He loved seeing Bokuto do things that he excelled at. He gave off a completely different air when he was performing a task he was skilled at and Keiji found it intriguing, another facet of the mystery that was Bokuto Koutarou. Keiji didn't think he could ever get bored of Bokuto if they were friends for fifty years, there was always something new to be surprised by. 

“Alriiight, we're here!” Bokuto announced as he pulled into a car park, and Keiji realised he had been staring for a good ten minutes. He couldn't look away as Bokuto turned to him though, eyes shining bright with excitement. He grabbed whatever he had been looking for before from the backseat then climbed out of the car. 

Keiji followed suit and walked round the car to stand next to Bokuto before realising where they were. 

“The sea?” he asked. 

Bokuto nodded, his face lit up in the moonlight. “Isn't it so cool at night? There's no one here but us, it's like a totally different place!” 

The dark sea was calm and the full moon let them see well enough. Keiji followed Bokuto onto the sand. 

“Let's swim!” said Bokuto and pulled off his shirt. 

“What?” asked Keiji, dumbfounded. Somehow he had not seen this coming. “I don't have any swim stuff! Couldn't you have warned me?”

“That would have ruined the surprise! Besides I don't either, just go in your boxers! That's how you're s'posed to do it at night, right?” Bokuto shucked off the rest of his clothes before running into the ocean.

Keiji shook his head fondly and decided that after coming all this way he might as well. He entered the sea more cautiously than Bokuto had but was soon submerged when said boy jumped on him, causing a brief splash fight. Keiji found himself laughing, feeling more carefree than he had in weeks. 

“Agaashii! I knew you'd love this idea! Am I the greatest or what?” Bokuto preened, proud to have made Keiji laugh. 

“Well you're certainly not 'or what’ Bokuto-san.”

“Aaakaashi! You just said I am the greatest!” yelled Bokuto as he picked Keiji up in an enthusiastic hug. 

“I did not, you have no proof!” countered Keiji, who then yelped as Bokuto dropped him back in the sea. 

The boys continued to laugh and splash at each other but it quickly got too cold for them to remain in the ocean. When they reached the beach, Bokuto picked up two towels he had taken from the car and handed one to Keiji. They sat wrapped in them, close together on the sand and Bokuto opened the case that he had also brought along. 

“Is that-? That's a top of the range camera, Bokuto-san, should you really have brought it to the beach?” Keiji asked, worried. 

“It's my mum's, we need it to take pictures!” 

“Couldn't we just use our phones?” 

“Akashiii! I thought maybe you'd want to try it out, since you like cameras and all…” Bokuto squirmed, as if he was unsure if this had been a good idea after all.

Keiji was touched that Bokuto had thought so much about an idea that he had come up with on a whim. He thanked Bokuto and took the camera from him, examining it. It really was a nice camera and he couldn't wait to try it out. He side eyed Bokuto, who was staring out to sea with a wistful look on his face. It was out of place on Bokuto and once again Keiji was hit by how complex he really was, no matter how much he tried to hide it. He aimed the camera at Bokuto and took a picture. This was a good side of Bokuto to capture first but eventually he wanted all of Bokuto's moods to be documented on film, so Keiji could remember him even when he wasn't there. 

“Why are we here tonight, Bokuto-san?” he asked gently. 

Bokuto took a long breath and Keiji took the opportunity to snap another picture before Bokuto turned to meet his eyes. 

“It's my last summer of high school,” he said. “You always see people in the movies having awesome adventures with their friends and having an amazing summer but I've never really done anything special, you know? All my life it's just been volleyball, and I love it, I just-” Bokuto paused to consider his words and Keiji nodded encouragingly. “I wanted to spend more time with my friends outside of club activities, we don't see each other much outside of school and you're my _best friend._ I'm gonna really miss you next year and I wanted some amazing memories, I guess...”

Bokuto trailed off, uncertain if he had said too much, glancing at Keiji out of the corner of his eye. 

“... Koutarou,” said Keiji, and Bokuto sat up ramrod straight with the use of his first name. “You're my best friend too,” he continued, starting to blush. “And you won't miss me because I'm not going anywhere, we'll still be friends even if we don't see each other everyday.” 

Bokuto's whole being seemed to radiate happiness and his eyes glistened with held back tears. Keiji captured another picture, the shutter breaking the spell, causing Bokuto to wrestle the camera away and get his own back by snapping many photos of Keiji. 

“I love your laugh,” said Bokuto, awed.

Keiji's sudden intake of breath nearly caused him to choke but he held it back. He couldn't stop the blush though.

“You're beautiful, Keiji.” 

Keiji covered his face with the towel. That had come out of nowhere and he was _not_ prepared. There had already been mushy friendship emotions tonight he couldn't deal with anymore right now. However, Bokuto's words were breaking his own carefully constructed feelings barrier and he found himself flooded with everything he didn't let himself feel for Bokuto. 

“I'm sorry! I went too far, please don't hate me, Agashiii!” Bokuto wailed. He was dangerously on the edge of dejected mode and Keiji did not want to be the cause of that, ever. He couldn't find the words to reassure Bokuto though. He looked up and met Bokuto's eyes. The sea had washed his hair free of gel and it looked so different without the spikes. Keiji found his hand moving to brush away a lock that had fallen into Bokuto's eyes and tucked it behind his ear. 

“What happened to Keiji, Koutarou?” he said, cutting off Bokuto's apologies. His mouth had fallen open in shock and Keiji reached for the camera but Bokuto grabbed his hands. 

“I- Keiji, I-” Bokuto stuttered. “Can I kiss you?” he finally asked. 

Keiji smiled and leaned in. 

“Yes.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how close the nearest beach is to tokyo and i dont care :P


End file.
